Report: Over Half Of City's Public Schools Are Underutilized
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Over half of Chicago's public schools are underutilized, according to a new report.
As WBBM Newsradio's Dave Marsett reports, new district standards say there are fewer students in the classrooms than the rooms were built to accommodate at over half of all of the city's schools – 268 elementary schools and 68 high schools.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Dave Marsett reports
Podcast
Only 249 of the 662 public schools were considered efficient when space is compared to student population, the Chicago Tribune reported.
An elementary school is considered efficient when 75 percent of its classrooms are used for general teaching, with 30 students per room, and 24 percent are used as science labs, or music or art rooms, the Tribune reported.
But the Tribune says advocates take issue with the calculations. They say the figures don't take into account such factors as classrooms used for small group instruction or one on one tutoring,
Schools chief executive officer Jean-Claude Brizard said the new reports will be helpful tools in decision making.
